Jason Traianidis

Jason Traianidis (born 7 November 1974) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Originally from Shepparton, Traianidis was a member of the North Melbourne reserves 1995 premiership team. He had been on North Melbourne's supplementary list that season and was almost drafted by the club in the 1996 pre-season but they went for Peter Bell at the last minute.^[1]

Traianidis was instead signed by St Kilda and after taking part in their Ansett Cup premiership - where he kicked one of the competition's most famous goals off the ground - played 13 AFL games in 1996. A half forward, he kicked two goals on debut and was goal-less in his second game despite scoring five behinds.^[2] He suffered a back injury in 1997 which kept him on the sidelines for much of the year but got to play in St Kilda's qualifying final win over the Brisbane Lions.^[2] In 1999 he started the season brightly but missed the second half of the year as he needed a knee reconstruction. He was tried as a defender in 2000 and averaged 16 disposals a game.^[2] In the penultimate round of the 2001 season, Traianidis was reported for striking Brett Kirk and after receiving a one match ban announced his retirement.

He would return to Shepparton and continue to play country football until 2010. In his final season, playing for Shepparton East in the Picola & District Football League, he kicked eight goals in the winning grand final team.

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